


Incredible Things

by orphan_account



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Crushes, Cuddling, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Frottage, Jily endgame, M/M, MWPP, Marauders era, Pining, WolfStar Endgame, cupboard snogging, kissing for practise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-19
Updated: 2015-12-19
Packaged: 2018-05-07 13:18:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5457827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Lily Evans agrees to go on a date with James, he panics and seeks comfort from his favourite werewolf who is pining away for his own, secret crush.  One thing leads to another, and they discover a few things about themselves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Incredible Things

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the anon prompt: James and Remus practicing kissing on each other to impress lily/Sirius and James discovering that he may be bisexual and he may have the hots for moony but let's face it, everyone has the hots for moony but yeah and they have a tiny fling to get over their curiosity before going off to woo their respective crushes
> 
> So I love love LOVE James/Remus, but almost all of them either has a really horrible James, or horrible angst. This one is angsty, but sweet at the end because they will always love the HELL out of each other. It's your basic let's practise snogging--oh look I might have some feelings for you, fic. It's Wolfstar and Jily end-game, but not in a sad way.

It started in Transfigurations, when Remus was being especially clever—and clever had always been something James couldn’t ignore. But he’d been tutoring Remus on the weekends when he didn’t have Quidditch and it was paying off. Especially when Remus had managed to turn his desk into a squashy armchair with a single flick of his wand, beating everyone in the class, including himself. And most people thought James would have been jealous, as he did very much enjoy being at the top of his class, but the pride bursting through him was so much more.

And he told Remus that later at lunch when a plate of pains au chocolat—Remus’ favourite—that James convinced the House Elves to prepare, popped up in front of him. Sirius and Peter both stared in surprise, but James merely grinned and gave his friend a pat on the back.

“You deserve it.”

Remus blushed, bowing his head and smiling shyly which made something in James’ gut go all funny. Sort of the way it did whenever Evans gave him her new, far more friendly smiles since they were actually getting on as proper friends now.

“Thanks, Prongs,” Remus said quietly as he helped himself, then shoved the plate over to his mates.

Sirius wasted no time shoving one into his mouth, grinning over at Remus making him blush and that made something _else_ twist all funny like in James’ gut. Sort of like when Frank Longbottom had made Lily laugh so hard she cried in the common room a few weeks prior. Jealousy, envy, but also a strange feeling like he didn’t really care because mostly he just really liked her and wanted her to be happy.

Which he knew—had known for about two years now—Remus fancied Sirius. He also knew Sirius fancied Remus back but both were too wary to risk a friendship. It was a matter of time, James knew, before they stopped dancing round each other.

“Alright lads, Hogsmeade next weekend. Our last chance to stock up at Zonko’s before the hols.” Sirius spoke it like an official Marauder declaration, and whilst Peter sighed a bit, as he was spending more time on revising for NEWTs than he was planning their pranks as of late, James shrugged.

“As Head Boy, I declare it a necessary occasion. Official Marauder Decree for this week—no one gets a detention.”

Remus shrugged, as he always did, and Sirius sighed but knew he didn’t have much choice. “Fine. I’ll save that funny colour charm I was going to use on Regulus until after.” He took a moment to send a scathing glower to the Slytherin table in spite of the fact that Regulus—along with all of Slytherin’s Quidditch team—wasn’t there.

“We should convene tonight,” James said, then dropped his voice when Alice and Lily came in, arms loaded with library books. “At least sort out what we’ve got going on up to the hols.”

“I can’t,” Sirius said. “I actually have got a detention with Sluggy for slipping that porcupine quill into Snivellus’ potion.”

“Fine,” James said. “Wormy? Moons?”

“Dorcas promised to help me with charms,” Peter said with a helpless shrug. It was also well known he’d harboured a crush on Meadowes for ages, so who was James to deny him that?

With a heavy sigh, James turned to Remus. “Don’t abandon me in my time of need, Moony,” James begged. “You know what happens if I’m left to plot on my own.”

Remus grimaced. “Right. Okay I was going to do more potions revising but if you promise to help me later…”

“Solemnly Swear,” James said, his voice low, and for just a second he swore Remus had a small blush across his cheeks.

James shook it off—he had to, couldn’t think like _that_ about Remus—and nodded. It was sorted, and all that was left was his plan number two—get Evans to agree to a Hogsmeade date.

After his disastrous attempts to woo her in fifth year—which really did nothing more than embarrass him and solidify her distaste for lads with messy hair and glasses—James took it upon himself to be a bigger person and try to be friends. Last year he’d done rather well, and before long they were working together in Charms and even in Herbology which happened to be her worst subject.

James realised he liked her more than just because she was pretty and clever. She was also witty and hilarious, and for all the immature fancy he’d held before, he could see himself getting serious with her. He felt for her the way Remus looked at Sirius when Sirius wasn’t paying attention. Or the way Sirius pined whenever Remus wasn’t in the room.

Sort of like it was meant to be and it would happen in its own time.

Sirius declared loudly he needed to go to the library and would require Remus’ help finding the right book so he could at least attempt to spell open the drawer in Filch’s office which currently held their map, and Peter decided he wanted a kip before Care of Magical Creatures, so it left James alone at the table a few spaces away from Lily, watching her as she chewed on a sugar quill and scoured one of the larger texts.

“Problem, Potter?”

James snapped out of his thoughts. “Ah. No. You need any help?”

She rolled her eyes, but smiled. “I’m doing quite alright on my own. Why are you sitting there like you’ve got flobberworms in your pants?”

“Merlin, Evans,” James said, feeling his cheeks go a bit hot. “But actually I wanted to know if erm…well you might be interested in Hogsmeade? Next weekend.”

She gave him a straight-faced look. “I’m very interested in Hogsmeade next weekend. Was planning on going. Need to restock my sugar quill supply.”

James ran his hand into his hair. “Right. Well I meant to…er…I thought maybe you and I could go. Together?”

There was a slight snicker from both Marlene and Alice, but they quickly stopped when Lily shot them a glower. “You’ve not got any ridiculous plans to lure me into that sickening Puddifoot’s shop, do you?”

James grimaced. “Didn’t think you were the sort. In fact I thought maybe we could get a glass of firewhiskey at the Three Broomsticks? This time I promise Sirius won’t be putting anything in Rosmerta’s supply.”

Lily was clearly thinking of all the unsuspecting witches and wizards who’d gone a rather unattractive shade of puce during their last excursion. “Swear it?”

“Solemnly,” James said.

Her eyes narrowed. “Someday you’re going to explain that to me, Potter.”

James grinned. “Someday. Is that a yes, though?”

She let out a long-suffering sigh, then shrugged. “Why not. But any funny business at all…”

“There won’t be,” he said, his heart now hammering against his chest because never in a million years did he think she’d say yes. He was absolutely certain she’d never get over his embarrassment of being a fifteen year old twat. “Well this is…very excellent. I’ll talk to you later, yeah?”

She flushed a little and looked back down at her book. “Yeah. Alright.” Before he could go off, she called out, “Oy, see if Black and Lupin want to make it a double date.”

Whilst some of the surrounding Gryffindors chortled, James merely grinned. “I might do, yeah. Later!” With that, he practically skipped up to the dormitory and realised that in ten long days, he’d be having his first proper date with Lily Evans.

*** 

Of course by the time Remus arrived in the dormitory, James was in a near panic. He was pacing, his hair an absolute disaster, and he had worried a hole in the sleeve of his robes.

“James?” Remus asked carefully, reaching out to grab his shoulder.

James spun quickly, grabbing Remus by the arms. “She said yes.”

Remus blinked. “Er…?”

“Evans. I…I asked her to Hogsmeade and she said yes. This is a complete disaster. A full-blown crisis, Moony!”

With a quiet smile, Remus shook his head. “Right. But…how? Isn’t this what you’ve wanted for years?”

“Well yes,” James said, throwing up his hands like that should explain everything. “It is. But there’s a huge problem.”

With a small sigh, Remus took James by the hand and pulled him down to his bed. “Alright, take a deep breath, then explain. Because you’re not entirely making sense right now.”

Covering his face, James did as instructed, though his breath came out a bit shaky and horrified. “The thing is…and mind it’s not like I’m _ashamed_ or anything, but…I was sort of busy trying to learn how to not be a complete prat so Evans might actually like me—even as just a friend, that I sort of forgot to you know…experience things.”

“Things?” Remus echoed.

“Things. Dates. Snogging. Any of it.”

“Ah.” Remus bit down on his bottom lip and in spite of James’ Massive Crisis of Epic Proportions, it still made his stomach twist in that funny way again and he found himself fighting back the urge to run his thumb along Remus’ mouth. What the _hell_ was going on? “And do you anticipate kissing Evans?”

“I don’t know,” James said miserably, forcing his eyes away from Remus’ mouth. “I mean, people do that sometimes. On dates. Merlin knows I’ve had to listen to Sirius boast about his conquests.”

Remus turned a funny shade of purple and looked away. “Er. Yes. Right.”

“Shit. I’m sorry Moony,” James said in a rush. “I didn’t mean…”

“No it’s alright,” Remus said, reaching out to squeeze James’ knee. He was too busy composing himself he didn’t hear the funny noise James made at the contact. “Well, you could always go out and find a nice bird who’d be interested in practise.”

James shook his head. “No I don’t want that. I don’t want to go round kissing someone I don’t care about.”

“Well I’d give you tips but I’ve been…I mean I haven’t…” Remus still wasn’t looking at James who was now staring openly at the werewolf.

“Because of Sirius?”

Remus let out a small, bitter laugh. “It’s not like I’m a great catch, Prongs. I mean, everyone thinks I’m a bit funny and I’m not good looking like you and Sirius are. I’m not…”

James stopped the flow of words by pressing his finger to Remus’ mouth. The amber eyes went wide, staring, and James knew he should probably stop but he didn’t _want_ to. “Sirius fancies you. You know he does. You should just ask him.”

Remus let out a breath and then said, “He’s asked me. To Hogsmeade. On a proper date. That’s why he dragged me to the library.”

Again that strange conflict in his gut twisted, but his mouth slipped into an easy smile and he squeezed Remus’ thigh. “Well that’s brilliant, isn’t it?”

“Only I might be where you are. Because what if we…you know? Get to snogging and I’m utter shit at it and he decides to go find himself a bloke who actually knows what the hell he’s doing?”

“He won’t. He’s been gone for you for years, Moons.”

Remus blinked, then shook his head with a shy smile. “That might not matter in the end.”

James gave his head a firm shake. “No, Remus. There’s no way. Anyone who doesn’t fancy the hell out of you is…mad.” As Remus laughed, James realised he just really wanted to kiss him, and found himself saying, “We could practise you know. Together.”

Remus’ laughter stopped, his eyes going wide. “Er. Me? And You? But…” He took a breath. “You don’t fancy blokes.”

James gave a helpless shrug. “Maybe I do. A little. I mean I really fancy Evans but there’s nothing official and sometimes I look at you and I really…” He stopped himself, wholly and completely embarrassed now.

“What?” Remus pressed, shifting closer. “You really what?”

“Well I want to kiss you,” James admitted, feeling his stomach somewhere round his adam’s apple. “I’m sorry. Fuck. This is so…”

James didn’t get the chance to finish his sentence because Remus had wrapped a hand round his wrist and tugged at him and then their lips were pressed together. Hard. James let out a moan as Remus’ mouth opened under his, and their tongues touched lightly, with hesitation. James found himself grabbing Remus by the back of his hair, his fingers nestling into those shaggy curls, and he didn’t want to let go.

Eventually, though, they had to breathe and Remus sat back, his cheeks pink, pupils blown wide. “Merlin,” he gasped.

James nodded. “I er…that was…”

“For practise, right?” Remus clarified. “We could for practise?”

James grinned widely as he tugged Remus closer again. “Definitely for practise. For the good of our future sex lives.”

*** 

It didn’t stop there, though. James found himself craving Remus at random moments, and finding excuses to drag him off to random corridors and empty classrooms and behind tapestries. And whilst he felt a little bad about it because his feelings for Evans hadn’t changed at all, and he could see now the shift in the way Sirius looked at Remus, and Remus looked at Sirius, he couldn’t _help_ himself.

And Remus was not complaining. They got to heavy petting, rutting to orgasm, gasping wet and slick into each other’s mouths as they rocked against each other. Occasionally hands would sneak under robes, into pants, feeling their way round hard cocks that shuddered and came with the barest pressure because they were so unused to it, but wanted it so badly.

James was gone for Remus in a way he hadn’t been over anyone before. Maybe not in a forever way, but he couldn’t understand for the life of him why people weren’t throwing themselves at Moony’s feet at any given moment. Why Sirius had ever questioned whether or not it would be worth it, because it _was_.

“Shit,” James breathed against Remus’ shoulder. They were in a broom cupboard near the Hufflepuff common room entrance, and Remus was just pulling his hand from James’ pants. “Shit that was good.”

It was two days before Hogsmeade, and it felt like a clock ticking down to The End. Because if all went well, things would become official and this would be over. It made James ache somewhere deep behind his ribs.

Remus laughed quietly, using his wand to clear up the mess before nuzzling his face into James’ neck. The cuddling was just as good as the mutual toss-offs and James found himself sometimes craving that more than anything. Twice now he’d feigned nightmares to crawl into Remus’ bed and just hold him.

“Hey Prongs?”

James didn’t move from his hold on Remus, his hands round his waist. “Yeah?”

“Sirius was going to kiss me today.”

James went tense. “Yeah?”

Remus nodded. “I stopped him. Because…well I still fancy him. I think I’m in love with him. But I wasn’t ready to give this up yet and…fuck. What are we?”

James finally pushed Remus away, though he cupped his cheek gently. “I dunno. I didn’t even…I mean I had no idea it could be this good with anyone. And I really like Evans. I could see myself with her after Hogwarts. I could marry the hell out of her, have a couple of kids. Be happy. But…there’s something about you.”

Remus laughed, nodding. “I know. It’s different.”

James pressed his forehead against Remus’ and breathed him in. “I think maybe we should…”

“Yeah,” Remus said. “End it in a good place. Now.”

James felt the ache fierce and horrible twisting through him and his throat went tight, eyes suspiciously wet, but both of them were too nice to mention it. “I really love you, Moony. You know that, right?”

“Course I do,” Remus said, his voice just as ragged and sore. “I love you too.”

“And we’ll always love each other. You’re one of my best friends.”

“I know,” Remus said. He pressed his lips slow, closed-mouthed to James’ to convey just how much he cared about him. “You’re one of the most important people in my life and I just want you to be happy.”

James nodded, holding him tight, drawing out these last few minutes. “It’s going to be fine. It will be.”

*** 

**Two months later**

Sprawled out on the sofa with Lily between his legs, he carded his fingers through her long hair, breathing in the gentle, earthy scent of her soaps. She fit to him like a puzzle piece, making his skin sing. He could close his eyes and see their future stretching on for eternity. He was so in love with her.

Giving a quiet hum, she turned her face and kissed along the soft part of his neck, nuzzling her face into the crook of it as he wrapped his arms round her. “I can’t wait for you to meet my parents,” she murmured, thinking about the upcoming hols. “They’re going to love you.”

James smiled against her, holding her just a fraction tighter. “I promise to be on my best behaviour, too.”

She laughed. “That, James Potter, will be a bloody miracle.”

“Oy, I can be good if I want to be. If I try.”

“Says the man who holds the record for having most detentions as Head Boy in the last fifty years.”

“S’not my fault none of them before me had no drive.”

She laughed against his skin, kissing him again. “Well I don’t care if you behave. I love you for you. Silly man.”

He felt a rush of affection surging through him, and it was only distracted when the portrait hole opened and his two best friends tumbled in, arms full of sweets nicked from the kitchens. Their hair was a dishevelled mess, mouths kiss swollen, and there was a suspicious red mark blooming just under Remus’ right ear. A place James knew from experience he liked best.

They gave him a sheepish smile as they tumbled to the rug in front of James and Lily, depositing their loot. “Peckish, you two?” Sirius asked, reaching out to thwap his knuckles against James’ knee.

Lily turned her head, pressing her ear right over James’ heart. “You have any tarts?”

“Only the one you’re lying on,” Sirius said with a grin.

“Pads,” Remus moaned.

Giving Remus a feral grin, Sirius yanked his lover into his lap and kissed him soundly. Remus groaned a little, prying himself away like it took extreme effort, and he was grinning stupidly, his eyes bright with love and affection. 

James felt that jealous twist again, but it was so much less now, watching Sirius fit himself into Remus’ lap like he was meant to be there. He watched Remus’ lips curve round words of love whispered so low only Sirius could hear them, and he watched Sirius flush and hold Remus _so tight_ like he never wanted to let go, and he couldn’t hate it. Because he loved them both so much. 

There would always be something secret he held, just under his ribs, right under his heart, for Remus Lupin. And it might always sting, but the most important thing in the world was Remus was happy. And, he realised as he watched Remus produce a chocolate tart he’d hidden from Sirius and pass it over to Lily, so was he.


End file.
